


Don't Want to Need You

by RandomReader13



Series: Dark Angels and Demon Brats [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bit of Fluff, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Relationship status: complicated, he's trying his best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25170787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomReader13/pseuds/RandomReader13
Summary: Bruce and Stephanie have a conversation after he picks her and Tim up from jail.Missing scene set after chapter 31
Relationships: Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne
Series: Dark Angels and Demon Brats [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1214049
Comments: 13
Kudos: 70





	Don't Want to Need You

Bruce sent Tim up to bed, for once not afraid that he would stay up all night. The boy was barely awake as it was, and the emotional toll of the past few minutes had taken even more out of him. Now came the hard part. Bruce took a bracing breath and returned to his seat. Stephanie was stiff as a board in her chair, and now he could see that the anxiety had turned to fear, her endless playing with her hair replaced with hands held deceptively-calm above her lap, ready to defend. Bruce steepled his hands together and stared over them, thinking. Things with Stephanie were always awkward, perpetually suspended in a murky place between mentor, boss, and friends’ dad. Bruce had overstepped too many times when she was Spoiler and Robin, trying to fill a spot that was too full of pain and anger already. He wasn’t her father, and he never would be. But here they were, staring at each other in his study at 2 in the morning. Bruce resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. He didn’t know what he was doing.

“Get on with it,” Steph snapped, apparently deciding that the silence had stretched on for too long.

Bruce blinked at her. “Get on with what?” he asked.

Stephanie shifted in her seat. “The yelling,” she said. “I know I fucked up, okay? So just get it over with.”

Bruce tilted his head ever so slightly to the side. “As I said earlier,” he said slowly, “you already know what you did wrong.” He folded his hands on the desk. “I know why Tim did it,” he continued, “but I don’t know why you did.” Open statements instead of questions, don’t make it seem like you’re demanding information.

“Because I’m a fuck-up, okay!” Steph half-yelled, shoulders snapping up out of their hunched posture, looking for a fight. Bruce wasn’t about to give it to her. “Because I’m always dragging the rest of you down with me, right? Never living up to your impossible fucking standards?”

Bruce frowned. “I do not see you that way.” There was a time, he admitted, when she was Spoiler, raw and untrained and so _young_ , that he was afraid for her and of her because, yes, Tim and Cass were more likely to throw themselves in danger if Steph was already doing it, trying desperately to reel her back in enough to keep her safe, but that time was long behind them. Or at least, he had thought it was.

“Don’t _lie_ to me,” she yelled, bolting to her feet. She swayed, and Bruce was reaching over to steady her before he could think. She jerked away, falling back into her seat. “Don’t _touch_ me.”

Bruce held his hands in the air, sitting back. “I’m sorry,” he said. Stephanie stared at him before starting to laugh. Bruce fought the urge to shift uncomfortably.

“You’re sorry,” she wheezed. “The Batman is _sorry_.”

Bruce didn’t know what was going on. Had someone snuck laughing gas into the alcohol she’d had, perhaps? Was Tim having the same symptoms?

The laughing stuttered and turned into a half-sob. Bruce stiffened. Laughing he could deal with, especially if it was of the drugged variety, but crying was not his specialty. He had managed with Tim, and he wasn’t sure he had another moment like that in him tonight. Not to mention that with Tim he had the surety of knowing exactly where he stood -- even if Tim, apparently, didn’t -- and with Stephanie there was none of that.

Stephanie pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. “Just do it,” she whispered. “I know you’re going to.”

“What do you know I’m going to do?”

He could see her shoulders shaking as she forced in a deep breath. She looked at him, face hardening. “Kick me out,” she said, voice only trembling a little. “Just do it. But I’m pretty sure the costume has to go back to Babs.”

It wasn’t often Bruce was shocked, he had lived a life too full to have much capacity for surprise anymore, and yet his children -- and those he could not claim, no matter how much he may want to -- managed to time and again. He frowned. There had been a disconnect, somewhere along the line. They were having two very different conversations.

“Stephanie,” he said slowly. “I am not going to kick you out.”

Stephanie stared at him. “What?”

“I’m not going to fire you or force you to quit,” Bruce said, feeling out the words. He could feel the precipice they were standing on, how the right words could pull her away to safety. How the wrong ones could push her over the edge. He allowed his calm mask to drop and met her tear-filled eyes, allowed her to see the concern filling his own. “You made a mistake, Stephanie. Tim did too. I’m not going to fire him over it, so why would I fire you?”

“But he- Tim’s your kid,” she said, looking just as confused as he felt.

“Yes.”

“And I’m- I’m just the person who forced her way in. You don’t even want me here.”

Bruce’s lips twitched up.

“What?” Stephanie demanded, bristling.

“I know you’ve heard how Tim became Robin, Stephanie. I didn’t want Dick on the streets either. Forcing your way into the position is something of a Robin tradition.”

“But- but I’m not. I wasn’t. I was Spoiler, and you told me to get off the streets. You only caved because I wouldn’t listen.”

“Yes, much how I only caved to Dick’s demands to help because he tried to go out alone, without training; and much like I caved to Jason’s need to be Robin because he was trying to fight crime before I even took him in; and much like I caved to training Tim because he put on the suit and went out on his own.” Stephanie’s breathing was coming faster, and Bruce slowly nudged her glass of water closer to her. Thankfully, she accepted it, taking a tiny sip. He would have preferred it if she took a proper drink -- she needed the hydration -- but at least now she wasn’t on the verge of hyperventilating.

“But they’re all your kids,” she said quietly, staring at her glass. “And I’m not.” She looked up, eyes sparking. “And I don’t _want_ to be,” she said sharply.

Bruce nodded, ignoring the way his chest squeezed. “I know. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you around.” He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, picking through his words. “I made mistakes, when you were Spoiler, and when you were Robin. I’m probably making them right now.” He sent her a small, wry smile before sobering. “I didn’t want you on the streets at first, you’re right. But you’ve grown so much since then. I don’t have to worry about you being out there alone, without training.” That didn’t mean he didn’t still worry, but it was more manageable, knowing she had his equipment in her belt, his training at her fingertips, a safety net nestled in her ear. “You’re a valuable member of our team,” he said slowly. He hesitated for a moment, but decided to continue anyway. Tonight had shown him that he had not been nearly clear enough on where she stood with him. “And a valuable member of this family.”

“But I’m _not_ -”

“Barbara is a member of this family, without being my kid,” Bruce interrupted. “We’re not exactly the conventional model around here. You don’t have to be if you don’t want to, but...the place is open for you, should you decide to take it.”

Stephanie just stared at him. Bruce wasn’t exactly thrilled that all of his honest, heartfelt statements tended to be met with disbelief or laughter or confusion, but he knew that was on him, not on his- the kids.

“You’re serious,” she croaked.

“Yes.”

Stephanie took a deep, sniffling breath. Bruce handed her a box of tissues. “I- I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to,” Bruce said, settling now that she seemed to be calming down. Yet another emotional hurdle navigated. He was getting a headache. “I’m happy to have you here in whatever capacity you feel comfortable with.”

The tissues crumpled in her hand. “Okay,” she whispered.

Bruce nodded. They sat in silence for a few moments as Stephanie sipped at her water and finally took the painkiller Alfred had left her. “When does your mother get off work?” Bruce asked.

“Seven.”

Bruce hummed. He would prefer if Stephanie remained here overnight, but he doubted her mother would appreciate that. “What do you want to do? You can stay here or I can drive you home. Or you can stay here for a few hours and I can drive you home before your mother gets home.”

Stephanie traced her finger around the rim of her glass. “I’d like to go home, please.”

“Of course.” Bruce nodded and stood up. Stephanie placed her empty glass on the desk and followed him. “We’ll take the Town Car, it’s more subtle.”

Stephanie snorted weakly behind him. “Only you, Bruce.”

He smiled a little back as he grabbed his keys from the rack. “I do have a reputation to maintain.”

They were halfway back to the city when Stephanie spoke up. “So...I’m not benched?”

“You’re absolutely benched,” Bruce said, pulling up to a red light. He glanced at her. “The duration is up to your mother.”

Stephanie groaned, slumping in her seat.

It took some creative driving to lose the paparazzi following them, but Bruce was very good at navigating Gotham, and he managed within a couple of minutes. There was no chance he would lead them back to Stephanie’s home. She would have enough difficulty with her picture splattered all over the news without them knowing where she lived. He pulled up to her apartment. Stephanie paused, one hand on the door handle.

“Thanks, Bruce,” she said quietly. “For getting me out and...and everything.”

“Of course,” he said. “Drink lots of water and,” he paused. Would this be overstepping? “Feel free to call,” he said. “If things with your mother get...out of hand.”

Stephanie stiffened and Bruce cursed himself. He should have just kept his mouth shut, he knew Crystal Brown was a sensitive topic, he should have let it go, no matter how concerned it made him knowing Stephanie was going home to a recovering addict.

Her shoulders relaxed, and Bruce released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Thanks,” she said again.

Bruce watched her head up to her apartment, not leaving until he saw her lights flick on. He was glad he had learned about Tim and Stephanie’s concerns, even if he wished it could have been in a healthier way, but that didn’t change the way emotions tired him out like physical activity never did. It was late, and he wanted nothing more than to tumble into bed, but there was too much to do, statements to make and damage control to manage. And of course, Jason still hadn’t gotten in contact. Bruce sighed and shifted into drive. It was going to be a long night.

**Author's Note:**

> [My Tumblr](https://theawkwardvirgin.tumblr.com/post/613585977520340992/prompts-are-open)


End file.
